Hamas's terrorist attacks on Israel were barbaric, disgusting and evil. That does not make Israel's bombing of.hospitals and refugee shelters justified.
Hamas's terrorist attacks on Israel were barbaric, disgusting and evil. That does not make Israel's bombing of.hospitals and refugee shelters justified.
Hamas locating its HQ & other military resources under hospitals & refugee shelters is also not justified.
Nor is claiming that Israel bombed a hospital when (1) the hospital was still standing; and (2) it was a Hamas missile that struck the parking lot.
Nor is Hamas's theft of fuel from hospitals, nor the fact that it put enormous resources into building tunnels for its fighters and then says that the safety of Gaza's citizens is none of its concern.
Nor is the declaration by Hamas's leader, safe in Qatar, that more blood of women and children in Gaza is needed for "the revolution."
None of that seems to be offensive to the "Palestinian" activists.
All of that is true. Still, as a militarily sophisticated Israeli commented to me, there was method to the Hamas madness. Their brutal tactics and torture were intended to evoke the reaction of the Israelis. Under the wisest of governments, Israeli politicians would have had a hard time taking a more strategic approach (which I'll describe below). But with the present government, the response was virtually guaranteed. The losses of civilians in Gaza is a feature, not a bug for the attack. The reasons that Hamas wanted to reshuffle the decks are obvious, and they have.
Now imagine if the Israelis had been able to take a different path.
To start, still declaring an embargo on Gaza, but pointing out that a) Hamas, their government, has large stores of fuel, water and fuel which they could, if they wished, distribute to the general population, and b) that that the government of Gaza could end the embargo at anytime by returning the hostages. That would have had a much higher probability of extracting the hostages.
Second, to clearly state to the Gazans and the world, that Israel would ultimately punish every member of Hamas with Munich-style persistence. That it might take years, but it would be inexorable and non-negotiable. For whatever the current difficiencies of the Israel Intelligence and military, that the response to Munich has a psychological power and moral defensibility that would not give Hamass the picture of dead children that they value so much.
Hamas's terrorist attacks on Israel were barbaric, disgusting and evil. That does not make Israel's bombing of.hospitals and refugee shelters justified.
Hamas locating its HQ & other military resources under hospitals & refugee shelters is also not justified.
Nor is claiming that Israel bombed a hospital when (1) the hospital was still standing; and (2) it was a Hamas missile that struck the parking lot.
Nor is Hamas's theft of fuel from hospitals, nor the fact that it put enormous resources into building tunnels for its fighters and then says that the safety of Gaza's citizens is none of its concern.
Nor is the declaration by Hamas's leader, safe in Qatar, that more blood of women and children in Gaza is needed for "the revolution."
None of that seems to be offensive to the "Palestinian" activists.
All of that is true. Still, as a militarily sophisticated Israeli commented to me, there was method to the Hamas madness. Their brutal tactics and torture were intended to evoke the reaction of the Israelis. Under the wisest of governments, Israeli politicians would have had a hard time taking a more strategic approach (which I'll describe below). But with the present government, the response was virtually guaranteed. The losses of civilians in Gaza is a feature, not a bug for the attack. The reasons that Hamas wanted to reshuffle the decks are obvious, and they have.
Now imagine if the Israelis had been able to take a different path.
To start, still declaring an embargo on Gaza, but pointing out that a) Hamas, their government, has large stores of fuel, water and fuel which they could, if they wished, distribute to the general population, and b) that that the government of Gaza could end the embargo at anytime by returning the hostages. That would have had a much higher probability of extracting the hostages.
Second, to clearly state to the Gazans and the world, that Israel would ultimately punish every member of Hamas with Munich-style persistence. That it might take years, but it would be inexorable and non-negotiable. For whatever the current difficiencies of the Israel Intelligence and military, that the response to Munich has a psychological power and moral defensibility that would not give Hamass the picture of dead children that they value so much.